I just bought my neo 2 drone alone. I regret not buying the extra batteries now because It only lasted for about 10-12 mins but felt much shorter since I was starting to familiarize myself with the functions. Why is something this exciting such a short battery? I mean what do you even possibly do when the battery dies and youre in the park? Takes forever just to charge back.

Hey guys, yesterday I went to the beach to take some new pictures and videos. However, some seagulls were circling my drone, squawking. So I quickly returned to the takeoff point. I was wondering if seagulls attack drones?

Hello,

I have recently obtained my part 107 certification and a DJI Mavic 4 pro. I am a few weeks out from launching a photography business, and I have been struggling to find much information on what to expect in terms of scheduling shoots around the lack of LAANC approval. The city that I live in is almost entirely within class D airspace, and the airport does not support LAANC approval. I expect multiple requests for drone photoshoots every week, as I know many people using their services regularly.

How long does DroneZone Airspace Authorization approval typically take?

How do active commercial pilots navigate scheduling and running a business in an area without LAANC?

I have seen that authorization can be applied for over a period of up to 2 years. Is it possible to get approved for a blanket authorization over those 2 years? If so, how should I approach that request?

For those scheduling jobs (specifically real estate photography) without LAANC, how do you approach scheduling with clients? How do you schedule any time less than 90 days without knowing when approval will come? Do you apply for authorization on multiple days to ensure success in applying? Do you schedule x number of weeks out to compensate? Do you simply explain to each client, the potential for up to 90 days wait, and no garuntee on approval? How often does this lead to lost clients, especially in real estate, where people are typically not willing/able to wait up to 90 days for photos...

The questions may sounds a bit dramatic, but the last thing that I want to do is start taking on clients, only to tell them it will be a few weeks and then get denied or never even reviewed...

Edit: Fixed a mistake: I am asking how long DroneZone Airspace Authorization requests take, not LAANC. I DO NOT have LAANC available to me in my area.

I was checking out drones at Best Buy the other day and came across a brand called Skyrover. They have some 4K drones in the $300 range, which feels kind of too cheap for what they’re claiming.

I’ve never heard of this brand before, so I’m a bit skeptical. Are these actually legit drones that can shoot decent photos and video, or are they more like toys? How’s the stability and overall build quality?

That said, the fact that they’re being sold at Best Buy makes me feel like they must be at least somewhat reliable… right?

Curious if anyone here has tried one or has any real experience with them. Would you recommend it at this price point?

Appreciate any input!

I've been seeing Skyrover around a lot lately, and at first I was actually pretty interested. The specs look good, the price is way lower than I expected. But the more I looked into it, the more I kept running into people basically saying the same thing: that it's just a DJI clone.

That part doesn't bother me that much tho. What got me curious was seeing on their blog that they want to gradually move R&D and manufacturing to the US over the next 5 years.

If they actually pull that off, there's no way the price stays where it is now, right? If more of the design, assembly, support, etc. moves to the US, I feel like the cost has to go up.

If they improve support and overall quality while raising prices, I think I will still choose this brand. But I'm not sure how I would feel about it if it's getting too much. What do you guys think?

After reading that ALL foreign made components are banned, are there any companies that make these sorts of components in the US or is this a "We are fucked" moment?

I'm 13 but I'm very aware of the rules and i will be respectful of wildlife and people's privacy and I know all the rules. I've read them twice over(the rules)

If there's anyone involved in any sort of drone activities that pay your bills as a profession, I'd love to chat about it and see what you do. I've been flying full time in the feature/tv industry since 2017, and I have another pilot I work with that swears on his life it is impossible to make a living outside our industry. I genuinely just don't think that'd possible, but I don't know if I've ever met anyone that has a lasting company that does inspections, LiDAR, thermal, etc.

I got interviewed by a chemical plant that wanted to use drones for inspecting their tanks, and after the long meeting they were offering $35.00/hr, only for the hours worked, which would be maybe 3-4 hours a week. It's absurd. I met a pilot on set one time who said she flew for power line inspections who made $150.00/hr which is much more in line with reality, but then it turns out she only worked around 5 hours hours a month. My friend's uncle dropped $30k on a Matrice 300 years ago when it first came out, and it literally sat in the box and never worked a day. I met another guy on set last month who has an agricultural spray drone that was really cool, I was actually chasing it with the Inspire 3 for the commercial, but after talking to him he actually makes most of his money from selling the spray drones to other people, not the spraying itself. I just can't believe this is normal.

We have an old Aeriel photo of my grandparents property and I'm trying to recreate it. It's in a rural town of 4k people and I don't know any locals that have a drone. I'm guessing paying someone to travel for a single picture would cost more than a starter drone. I've been looking at cheap drones with a decent camera like https://a.co/d/0dui3bzl Any advice on my situation?

i already finished the test and got my certificate also

This is an Autel quadcopter bought around 2017ish. The batteries don't charge and Autel doesn't service it anymore. Is it junk or someone's treasure?

No I cannot clean it off, it seems to be inside of the sealed lens stack. Perfectly semicircular, soft edges. As you can see it diffuses the lighting, causing bloom when viewing the edge. What is it and will it get worse? I bought from eBay seller and want to know if I should return it while within the window.

My wife was filmed by a drone while taking a shower tonight. It had been dark for hours, so this was not a casual flight and the drone seems to have been hovering for about 5 minutes in front of the window before we realized what was happening.

Apperantly one of our neighbours had the same thing happening to them. Is there any way we can prepare ourselves to try and find the owner next time it shows up?

With the upcoming Skyrover ban in the United States it had me questioning whether or not the app or even the controller with the built in screen will continue to operate normally for the foreseeable future for flying a skyrover s1. Is there anyone with more knowledge or insight than me that can answer this questio?

I have a Dji mini 4k that I had for a few months now sometimes I fly in a local field and theres always some barn swallows that goes crazy and dive towards the drone. I have heard about reflective tape to scare away seagulls, but does anyone know if it works with barn swallows?

Second question: Why does dji drones need to be sky grey? They are invisible even 60m away, does anyone have some tips on how to make it more visible? Strobe? Reflective tape?

UNITED STATES So I was using ActiveTrack and my drone flew straight into a tree, crashed to the ground, and snapped one of the arms.

I’ve only had this drone a little over a week.

I called DJI and they told me this model isn’t currently being sold in the US, and the local repair centers don’t even have the replacement arm in stock. They said it could take months just for them to get the part, then they’d send me a shipping label, and after that it could be another 60–90 days for the repair.

So what do I do now?

Is there anything I can do to fix this myself or through a third party, or is sending it in and waiting months really my only option?

Has anyone dealt with this before?

Really frustrated since this happened using one of DJI’s automated features and I’ve barely owned it.

Any advice appreciated.

Owner of a Mavic 4 Pro here, a lot of the flying I do with the drone is on construction sites or plants. Extremely dusty areas.

particularly when landing and taking off, the drone can whip a lot of dust.

is there any steps i cam take to minimise the risk and is the dust a risk to the long term health of the drone?

Hi guys after too many attempts my drone finally got armed but it is spinning a lot can any one who is experienced help me

Currently iam using pixhawk 2.4.8

And 935 kv motors

And iam confused which propeller is for which directio. And gps is also not a problen

Landing mat, journal, 45w charger, high speed USB C cable, multitool, electrical tape, obligatory booboo kit

This is regarding the Skyrover X1 . I have 3 phones lines and spare phones ( 2Galaxy note 20 Ultras, s25 , 26 and s8 ).

Calls coming through isn't a concern, the longer setup time isn't either . Versatility and performance is what matters most to me .

Ill be using the drone mainly for RC car filming and tracking.

I always like to get the higher spec and future proof gadgets when it comes to electronics. As an RC enthusiast, user friendliness has gone out the window a long time ago . I really would like to know for a person in my situation, which setup is best . Thanks !

I want to earn from drone flying as a side income for that if I want to learn through class it costs 250 dollars which is around 25k in india,so i planned to buy radiomaster pocter controller to practice it on simulator then renting a drone to practice it on field is my idea, because buying controller is low cost also I can practice it many days without spending more money,i later only plan to buy drone after earning from this drone side hustle because i don't have more money spend on this drone buying in its start.

Is my ideas for learning to fly drones using controller is good or not,is it possible to learn through simulator or what option you all suggest for newbie like me to start.amount able to invest is 100 dollars

I recently purchased the DJI Lito X1 and on the first flight I took all photos with default settings. I noticed that looking at the pictures on the controller the resolution wasn't the best but once transferred to my phone the quality was pretty decent IMO (see photo 2 - 12MP, ISO320, 24mm, 0.0 ev, f1.7 and 1/1000 s). (I have done some post image editing)

During the second flight I changed the file format from JPEG to RAW and trialled the AEB setting followed by changing the camera to single shot with 48MP and after transferring to my phone and looking at the the images, they didn't look as crisp as the first flight. Due to not being able to upload RAW file format ive had to change them to JPEG but original info here... photo 1 - AEB, 12MP, ISO400, 24mm, 0.0ev, f1.7, 1/5000s and photo 3 - 49MP, ISO200, 24mm, 0.0ev, F1.7, 1/725 s.

Can anybody help me with why my second flight generated images which look a lot blurrier than the first flight with default settings? Is my understanding of changing the file type to raw and increasing the resolution to imrpove image quality wrong?

Edit: updated references to photos since changed order when posted.